Hook, Line, and Sinker
by Liberty Hoffman
Summary: young Shawn and Gus go fishing with Henry - and Shawn gets in over his head! SHAWN WHUMP! just a short two-shot. better than it sounds!
1. Stuck

**-1989-**

Fishing. Oh, how I hated it. I hated it so much that it wasn't even a condolence that Gus got to come along. Not that he wanted to be there either, but I couldn't stand going with just my dad.

It was already scorching hot when we got into the car and it was only 10 o'clock. I'd begged Dad to let me stay home, but he'd all but dragged me into his truck. Gus followed, clearly more afraid of my dad than fish guts.

"Dad, it's a million degrees out. Why are we doing this?" I moaned.

"Stop your whining, Shawn. We're going because I said so." Dad gave me a look when I opened my mouth to protest. "End of discussion."

I rolled my eyes at Gus and leaned my head against the window.

For the next hour and a half, I baited hooks while Gus tried not to look. Dad was the only happy one - this was his favorite pastime. Leave it to him to pick such a gross hobby.

Gus finally couldn't take it anymore and went to sit farther away. I joined him soon after, ignoring my dad yelling at me to open another can of worms.

"We've been here for hours," Gus complained as I sat next to him on a fallen tree branch beside the lake. "When do yu think he'll finish up?"

I sighed. "I have no idea. He could be ten more minutes or two more hours. There's no telling with him."

"It's so hot!" Gus said, shaking his sweaty shirt and wiping sweat off his forehead.

"Wanna borrow my baseball cap?" I asked. "For shade."

Gus smiled. "Sure."

As I took it from my own head and reached over to hand it to Gus, a gust of wind caught it and flung it out across the lake.

"Oh no!" I breathed, watching it float down and land on the water's surface about five or six feet out. After staring at it for a moment, I looked around the side of the tree we were sitting behind and glanced at dad. He was fumbling with a few hooks and some tangled fishing wire.

I got up. "I'm gonna have to go after it, Gus," I said.

Gus grabbed my arm. "Are you crazy? Don't you ever listen? Your dad always tells us not to wade out in this lake. He said it's not safe."

"Gus, first of all my mom gave me that hat," I said as I ripped off my sneakers and socks. "Second of all, since when did I ever listen to my dad?"

With that, I began wading into the water slowly, trying to see through the murky water. With each step the water rose: to my knees, my waist. So far, so good. The water was cooler than I expected, but but it felt good on my hot skin. I was getting close to the hat, so close. Or at least it looked like it. Just a few more steps. I inched forward, wincing as I began to step on sharp rocks with my bare feet. The water rose past my chest, almost up to my neck. I wasn't worried about the depth - I could swim pretty well. But I didn't want to make a lot of splashing in case my dad should happen to look up and see me. I took another step - and my foot slipped on a rock and I went under.

I forgot to hold my breath and inhaled a mouthful of water, causing me to choke. I tried to kick out with my legs, but a sharp pain ran through my right foot and I realized it was stuck on something, pinned down painfully.

I had to breathe. I was beginning to panic, windmilling my arms above my head, groping disparately for the surface. My hands found air, and I felt a surge of hope. kicking out with my left leg, I managed to press it into the rocky silt on the bottom of the lake and I pushed hard. My head rose a little and I tipped my head back, getting my mouth and nose above the surface.

I began coughing almost immediately and then gasped a few short breaths. A second later, my foot slipped and I went down again, arms flailing. I struggled until my foot hit the ground again and and I got my face back up to the air.

I thought I heard someone yelling my name and I tried to call out but water filled my mouth, making me choke. A second later, I hand grabbed the back of my shirt, pulling my head a bit higher out of the water.

"Shawn!" a familiar voice gasped in my ear.

"Gus?"

I opened my eyes and saw my best friend's worried face looking down at me.

"Are you okay?" He asked, gripping my arm tightly and treading water.

"Foot's stuck," I coughed, clinging to Gus.

"Shawn! Gus!"

I'd never been so happy to hear dad's voice in my life.

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TBC!


	2. Rescue

here's the rest of the story! enjoy!

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"Mr Spencer!" Gus yelled.

Dad was suddenly right there, gripping my other arm.

"His foot's stuck," I heard Gus say.

"Alright, don't panic," Dad said in a tone that I knew well. He was in cop mode. Normally I hated when he sounded like that but right then it calmed me.

My left foot suddenly slipped in the mud and my head went under again. But this time Dad and Gus were there and they pull me back up quickly.

"Gus," I heard dad say as I coughed, "Can you hold his head up for just a little longer?"

"I-I think so," Gus said.

I felt a hand tap my face. "Shawn, look at me."

I opened my eyes and blinked away the water that was running into them.

"I'm gonna get you loose, Shawn, okay?" Dad said, looking me in the eyes. "I just want you to concentrate on your breathing."

I nodded, too out of breath to say anything.

Dad's face disappeared and I heard him take a deep breath. Then he was gone.

Gus held me tightly, panting as he struggled to hold us both above the surface. He was getting tired - He was loosing his fight to hang on.

Dad surfaced a moment later, gasping.

"Almost there," He said. "Gus are you okay?"

"Yeah, just hurry!" Gus panted.

Dad disappeared again and a few seconds later I felt a sharp pain in my foot. I cried out, startling Gus so much that he almost lost his hold on me. Dark spots began to blot my vision. Man, did it hurt. I felt an arm around my chest and felt myself being towed through the water. Someone may have been calling my name but suddenly all I could hear was a buzzing sound, roaring and drowning out all other noise. I was falling, falling, falling...

"Shawn!"

Dad's voice broke through the roaring in my ears and I discovered that I was lying on something solid.

"Dad?"

I opened my eyes slowly and Dad's face slowly came into focus.

"Oh thank God," Dad breathed, lifting me in his arms. "It's gonna be okay, you're gonna be alright."

Dad carried me into his truck and Gus slid in beside me. I managed to stay coherent for a few seconds, but I made the mistake of glancing at my foot. Blood was soaking through a blanket that Dad must have wrapped it in. I'm not like Gus when it comes to blood, but I was still sort of in shock from my ordeal and it was one thing too many. I looked away from my foot much too fast and everything went black.

I was released from the hospital the next day with three broken toes and a fractured ankle bone. Dad gave me a long lecture about safety when we got home that I only half heard. I had learned my lesson about going in the lake and knew that I'd never do it again.

**-The End-**


End file.
